Gladwin man injured in work site accident

By Pat Maurer
Correspondent

A 53-year-old Gladwin worker was injured after falling into hole on a work site on M-61 near Kirby Avenue last Thursday afternoon.

According to Lt. Ed Williams of the Clare County Sheriff’s Department, the victim, James Keneth Greaves, was using a backhoe to dig up a metal gate that was cemented into the ground. Reportedly Greaves was attempting to chain the gate in place to keep it from swinging open as it was removed from the ground, when he lost his footing and fell onto the gate and into the hole around the gate. The accident happened around 1 p.m.

A co-worker called 9-1-1 and performed lifesaving medical help while waiting for an ambulance to arrive. Greaves was having difficulty breathing and bleeding from his ear after the accident, Williams reported.

He was taken to MidMichigan Medical Center in Midland by Mobile Medical Response with possible head injuries. Hospital officials said he was not in their directory, meaning he had been transferred or released, on Wednesday afternoon.

OSHA, the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration was called in to investigate the accident.